Be a Healing Voice

Articles Inspirational articles from Hay House authors

Be a Healing Voice

Drugs and alcohol are not the only things a person can be addicted to. Gambling, shopping, food, and even relationships can be the focus of an addiction. Often we look for validation from these other sources because we do not feel love or approval for our own selves. Sometimes we blame another person or a situation for making us the way we are. But nothing in the past is as powerful as what we choose to do in the present moment. When you truly desire change, you can make it happen for yourself. Of course, you don’t have to do it all alone. Help can come from friends, family, mental-health professionals, and support groups.

I hope you feel inspired and moved by the strength of Abigail, a self-esteem life coach from Kentucky, in the following story:

Yes, I Can Heal My Life!

On December 25, 2003, my mom gave me a copy of You Can Heal Your Life. Inside, she’d written: “I hope you enjoy Louise Hay’s approach to health. She is one of my favorites!” At the time, I was an active alcoholic who was also addicted to drugs; suffering with weight and sexuality because I’d been raped; and numb to the reality that my body was about to be cut open only to be sewn shut, as society preferred it to be, with plastic surgery.

Being a victim when convenient had become comfortable. Playing the role of polished public leader while secretly feeling isolated and lonely had become normal in my life. I needed Louise’s words, but I could not hear or feel at this point in my life, nor did I like to read. Thankfully “the list” in You Can Heal Your Life briefly touched on common diseases. Since it was so simple to navigate and held powerful keys for improving one’s immediate mental state, I was sold. Almost.

After reading the book, I made lists about loving my body, believing I was whole, talking to myself in the mirror, blah, blah, blah. I slid back into old patterns, never practicing my affirmations for more than a day. I was Jekyll and Hyde, a depressed leader with beauty and self-doubt. Life remained painfully comfortable.

One day I woke up in jail with my face and knees covered in bruises and crusty blood, thanks to my attempt to beat up police officers while inebriated the night before. I was arrested up against a car, which took my memory back to how I’d been raped several years earlier. I don’t recall the physical details, but the emotions are vivid. I knew I was cruel when the officers stripped me of my diamonds and pearls, when they placed me in an all-white “crazy person” room, and when I woke up and realized it was real. The person I was now looking at in this hazy mirror was not the one I’d intended to become.

When I got home, I picked up You Can Heal Your Life again. I kept repeating the phrase, “Me? I can heal my life?” I was so scared, but for the first time, I believed that, yes, I could. God needed me to be a voice for others, and this meant I would no longer use Band-Aids; I was going to physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally heal. I accepted the new thought patterns in the book and trusted in a fraction of Louise’s words.

For years, I’d given advice to other people, but stepping into responsibility for my own self was in a new league. By being true to her purpose, Louise helped me live on purpose. Louise’s affirmations (along with Wayne Dyer’s intentions) gave me a new beginning.

Since 2005, I’ve traveled to learn, but I’ve stayed put to teach. Today, I am sober, spiritual, successful, and courageous. I am a life coach to high-school and college women; with Louise’s affirmations, my experiences, and the power of the Universe, we improve lives.